


Alexia: Lost Daughter of Daedalus, Princess of the Labyrinth

by SinewaveSanctuary



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-04-26
Packaged: 2020-02-04 14:35:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18606505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SinewaveSanctuary/pseuds/SinewaveSanctuary
Summary: I am sure you know of Daedalus' son Icarus. But long after Icarus died, Daedalus had a daughter who went by the name of Alexia. Alexia has been brought up in the Labyrinth, but wonders what lies outside. One day however, everything changes. Somehow, monsters make it to the heart of the Labyrinth. Daedalus tells Alexia to run. She has no choice.Nearly two millennia later, Alexia wakes up to find herself in a modern world, where everything has changed. Although she didn't know it, Alexia had been asleep for all those years. Now, she must realize her destiny in this new world. Alexia soon takes to the new changes (she has lost a lot of her memories) Nobody would believe her story, until the day she discovers a place called Camp Half Blood. A place for demigods to be safe. But even there Alexia finds it hard to fit in. Will she ever fit into this new world? Will she even remember who she is?





	1. Introduction

This story takes place in Percy Jackson's world, however you need to note a few things:

Most importantly, most of the events of the fourth book, Battle of the Labyrinth, did not happen. Percy and co didn't go on the quest into the labyrinth, therefore they didn't meet Daedalus, and therefore he didn't die. However, he is still their sword master, only Quintus is his last name, as nobody knows his first name.

 

The war with Kronos is over. There is no war happening at the time this story takes place. However the world is still ravaged with monsters who came back to avenge their old masters.

 

Also, I have made up a new goddess called Neoma for this story. You will find out a bit about Neoma in the story.


	2. I Am Alexia

There is no changing one's past. There is no changing how the Fates make one's string intertwine with others' fully. However, through the right choices, one's string can be made to have the smoothest ride possible through the future.

"Father, tell me about Icarus," I said. "I've heard tales of him, but tell me what really happened." I had pestered my father with this request countless times. And yet he always said, "No Alexia. A twelve year old girl shouldn't have to know these things at the time." He went back to his work.

"Are you really a son of the immortal goddess Athena?" I asked.

"It would be dangerous to tell you," he replied,

"Who is my mother?" He turned around. He stared at me. His grey eyes looked serious.

"Al...Alexia.... These things are not for you to know right now," he said. He turned back to his work. 

I wanted to ask many more things but thought better of it. Father always said that one could gain knowledge through asking questions, but I knew he wanted to concentrate on his work. I looked around the room. This room was huge, but when compared to the vast space made up of the surrounding rooms and tunnels, the room was tiny. It was just one little place at the heart of this great Labyrinth. To think that Father made the great maze, and it grew with his every breath.... It was unimaginable. It fascinated me greatly. 

Father had taught me many things,. He had even taught me how to make my own creations. It was quite a talent I had there. I had made a few things, but they were useless scraps compared to the wonderous things Father had made. He had also taught me to use a sword, and I was quite good at this too. I could also use a bow and arrow, but sometimes my shots missed. Don't ask. We practised in a large room near to the workshop/house. This room was called the arena. We practised every morning in the arena. We used dummies and targets and such to practise on. Before too long I was really good at fighting. 

Thinking about these morining sessions in the arena, I wondered if Icarus had had a similar childhood. Had he been taught in the ways I had been? I acted more like a boy than a girl, so maybe this was the case. Had Icarus also been good at inventing things and fighting like Father and I were? And what happened to Icarus? Apparently it had happened quite a few years before I was born. I had lived and grown up in this Labyrinth all my life. What was life like outside of the Labyrinth? This is what I daydreamed about most. I thought, If I were a princess in a castle, what would life be like for me? If I was a regular girl living outside, what would it be like? If I were the daughter of a hero like Jason or Hercules or someone, what would it be like? I had asked Father about this and he didn't tell me much. He said, "Sometimes it is better not to know, for there are many a girl whose lives are misery and would do anything to escape into the Labyrinth to escape it all." I couldn't argue with that. While there were girls who were princesses, such as this Ariadne girl Father had mentioned many times, there were many who were not so lucky. There were many who would do anything to be me, never mind a princess. I guess in a way I was a princess. I was the princess of this underground world of the Labyrinth.

Yes, I was Alexia, daughter of Daedalus, Princess of the Labyrinth.

It was while I was daydreaming about this that we heard it. THUD. Then there was a sound like a thousand men running, with swords clanking and much yelling and noise. It sounded like a battle, it was a battle. Men looking for a fight, I guessed. I wondered who would be so foolish to enter this Labyrinth. Only with Ariadne's string could one find their way through the maze. I listened carefully. It sounded like there were other things besides people there. Then it happened, all at once. There was a horrible thud, and then a huge crash as they broke through the door of this room. I jumped up from where I was sitting and grabbed my sword. I turned to the intruders. There were people, and monsters too. There were Cyclopes, dracaenae, even a Minotaur, I could recognize them all. Father had made me study these beasts from books and memorize all the names of them. 

Hundreds of thoughts were whizzing through my head. How had these monsters found their way here? What did they want with us? What were we going to do? We would surely die. Father had grabbed his sword and shield. The monsters chased us. Father called to me, "Alexia! Run! Go through the secret door in the workbench! Here's the key!" He threw me the golden key. I could see the keyhole on the side of the bench. I shoved the key into it. I called for Father to come but he turned to me and shook his head. "I must not let these monsters get to my inventions! It could be disasterous!" He was fighting the monsters. He had taken down a Cyclops and was working on a dracaena but lots of people were closing in from all directions. I ran back and grabbed my small bow and shot a man who had snuck up behind Father. It was a great shot. The man fell straight down. I wanted to help fight the monsters but Father called to me again. "Run, Alexia!" I crawled through the door in the side of the workbench. When the passage was high enough to stand up in I ran. I ran and ran and ran. When I stopped to catch my breath, I could no longer hear the sounds of the battle raging in Father's workshop. I wasn't lost in the maze but I knew I couldn't go back. In my head I heard my father calling to me, telling me to run. Then I blacked out.

When I woke up I wasn't in the Labyrinth, I could tell. I could see the sun shining, and I was laying on some grass. I had seen these things before, when I had ventured out of the many entrances to the Labyrinth, but it was quite rare. I then became aware of a figure standing over me. I sat up. The figure was of a woman. She was wearing a dress that shone in the light of the sun. She had light brown hair and a golden tiara on her head. She had beautiful green eyes. I had never seen anyone like her. And she had this sort of light shining around her. She said, "Oh, you're awake. I was worried about you, Alexia. I am Neoma, goddess of invention, science and mathematics. I found you lying in the Labyrinth. What happened?" I gasped. I had never imagined I would meet one of the immortal gods. Never. But I hadn't ever heard of Neoma before. As if she could read my mind, she said, " I walked the surface of the mortal Earth for most of my immortal life." I didn't know what to say. I wondered how she had just happened to find me in the vast halls of the Labyrinth, and how she had found a way out instead of just wandering around. Why would she have gone into the Labyrinth anyway? 

These were my last thoughts before I suddenly drifted off to sleep.... In my sleep I dreamt that the world was changing... people were changing.... gods were changing.... everything was changing...changing....changing...


	3. I Wake Up 2000 Years Later

I opened my eyes. Huh? Where am I? I thought. What happened to me? The last thing I remembered was when I was in my father's workshop... in the Labyrinth... Then the monsters came... Ugh... What had happened before? I stood up shakily. I was in a garden in front of a house. It was unlike anything I had ever seen. Although, I had only ventured outside the Labyrinth... how many times? Come to think of it, what had happened to me before the monsters came? I knew that my name was Alexia, and my father was Daedalus, the great inventor. That much I knew. I also knew that my home was in that Labyrinth. But no matter how hard I tried I just couldn't remember anything else. 

I looked down at myself. I was wearing a short dress decorated with triangles and circles. I reached into the small pocket in the dress. Inside was a piece of golden string, and a golden key. Around my wrist was a bracelet. It had Greek letters and some other ones too. I didn't know the origin of these characters but I could somehow read both the familiar and the unfamiliar ones. They said, "Alexia Inventor-Quintus." Was Inventor-Quintus my last name? I didn't know. 

I looked at where I had come from. There was an entrance to the Labyrinth there, I could see the Delta sign that marked an entrance to the maze. I walked up to it. The blue symbol flashed, but it didn't open like it had for me when I had ventured outside... how many years ago? Then something came back to me. That goddess, who had spoken to me before. What was her name? Naome? Nimia? I couldn't remember. Then I fell asleep again.

In my dream I saw the goddess again. We were in that place we had been in before, when we met. The goddess walked up to me. "Alexia. It is time for you to awaken. Your destiny awaits. I will give you the necessary knowledge to live in this time. It has been nearly two thousand years since you slept in the Labyrinth. This world... It is different. But do not forget your past. I will be seeing you again...." and then the vision faded. 

When I woke up again I felt different. I saw a road, and something coming down it. I somehow knew that this was a "car." Then I stood on the grass for a while and thought. I had fallen asleep and woken up nearly two thousand years later, in a different city, with different people. What should I do? I thought. I couldn't get back to the Labyrinth. I didn't know where I was. I could walk around, try to find something to do in this new age, maybe, but where would I stay? And who would want me? I looked around the garden. I decided the best course of action would be to ask at the house and see if the owner knew of anyone looking for work or something. I cautiously walked up to the door of the house. I knocked on the door.

"Coming!" came a woman's voice from the house. I could hear other children in the house, for they made quite a bit of noise. A kind looking lady opened the door. She was wearing a pink dress with a white apron, and glasses on her head. She looked down at me. "And who might you be, child?" she asked me. I looked down at myself again. I said, "My name is Alexia, and I don't know where I am or what to do, I don't have anywhere to stay or..." I said. The words came out fast. The lady said, "Come on in, dear. I'll get you some hot chocolate. That'll warm you up a bit." So I followed her into the house.

There were four other children in the house. They didn't look at all alike, I could tell that they weren't the children of the lady. There was a tall, dark skinned boy with curly black hair. He was wearing a green shirt and jeans. I didn't know how I knew what these sorts of clothes were called, for they were not in fashion last time I knew. Sitting next to this boy was a pale blonde girl. She had long plaits in her hair. She was wearing a purple dress and white shoes. Sitting opposite the boy was a short boy with an orange shirt and a black jacket on. He had big brown eyes. Next to him sat a red haired girl with a long ponytail in her hair. She was in a white dress with a green sash. They were all looking at me. 

"Sit down next to Dani here," said the lady, pointing to a chair next to the red haired girl. The lady put a hot mug in front of me. I drank from it. The drink was the best thing I had ever tasted. Once I had finshed, the lady went on to explain some things. "I've been living here all my life. I had no children of my own, so I take care of these four. They all wandered up to my doorstep, just as you did. This is Mike," she said, pointing to the dark boy. "This is Gracie," she said, pointing to the girl in the purple dress. "This is Fred." She pointed to the boy in orange. "And this is Dani," she said, putting her hand on the shoulder of the girl I was sitting next to. "All of them had nobody, all except Dani knew who their mother or father was, and they'd had to leave for some reason." Dani stared out the window. The lady continued. "They all call me Ma. If you like, you can stay with us. After all, the more, the merrier! There's plenty of room in Ma's place." 

I wasn't sure what to say, but I accepted Ma's offer. For now, I was part of this group. Then they all began to talk at once. They asked questions. Ma told them to settle down and then asked me my story. "Who are your parents? Do you know?" asked Ma. 

I told her, "I don't know who my mother was. My father was an inventor named Daedalus. We just lived in..." I stopped. I wasn't sure what to say. I was sure I could trust Ma, but I didn't know how much I should say. 

"Oh, is that so? What's your full name?" asked Ma. I showed her the bracelet. "Quite nice," she said. "So your name is Alexia Inventor-Quintus? A nice, strong sounding name. Actually, come to think of it, the word Quintus means fifth in Latin, and you're the fifth one here to stay. Quite a coincidence," she said, smiling. 

Later, Dani showed me to my room. I would be sharing a room with her and Gracie. Dani and I sat alone in the room. I could hear Gracie and the boys talking to Ma. Dani looked about my age, the boys looked about our age too, but Gracie had looked about seven or eight years old. Dani said, "So, my name's Daniella Jones-Mackenzie. I prefer Dani though. I like your name. It has a certain aura of mystery to it, doesn't it?" said Dani. "Oh, I'm always talking before I do things. I should show you your bed!" 

Dani helped me find some different clothes to have, and she helped me thread my key onto the piece of golden string. I put it around my neck. It was then that she noticed it. My birthmark. On my neck I have this mark in the shape of a bird. Father had the same mark too. He had told me it was a reminder of something that had happened. She asked about it. I told her what Father had told me about it. From the look on her face it looked like she knew something that I didn't, when I told her about the bird mark.

A little while later, we were all sitting in the lounge room. That is, me as well as the rest of "Ma's lot" as they were referred to. Ma herself was in the kitchen preparing something. I wanted to know more about each of the other children. Mike explained that the term for the members of Ma's lot was lotters. Everyone on the street knew where Ma's house was, and Ma often had visitors to the house. They all introduced themselves properly then. "Well, my full name's Michael Goldstain. My mother was in the kitchen one time, and she said she saw something, and that I had to run for my own safety. She knew Ma, so she left me with her. I don't know what scared Mother so much that she had to leave me. And as for my dad, I don't even know who he was. So that's my story," said Mike. He sat down in an armchair. Then Fred stepped forward. "The name's Fred Franks. Here's my story: Me and Mama were at the park. I was only five years old when all of a sudden a weird girl demanded that Mama hand me over. Mama called the word "run" to me and I didn't want to disobey her so I ran for my life. I bumped into Ma and told her to protect me. She took me in and I became the second lotter." Fred looked sad about having to remember what had happened, and I felt a bit guilty for making him remember it. Dani said, "We bumped into Gracie one day when we were exploring the forest. She said she'd be alright, she had friends to protect her. I said that if ever needed somewhere to stay she could come with us. The next day we heard a horrible noise from the forest. Gracie had fallen from a tree she had been sleeping in. Luckily she had landed on soft leaves but we carried her off to Ma's house and she took Gracie to the hospital. Gracie doesn't remember much of it, it was a year or so ago." Gracie had started crying. Dani picked her up and told her it was alright. I guessed that Dani was like a big sister to Gracie. Dani herself didn't tell her story. We all just sat there.

We looked at each other (though the other lotters were mostly looking at me) until Ma called, "Who wants a cookie?" We all jumped up and ran to the kitchen. It smelled great. For the first time that day I felt that I might like it here.


	4. I Play a Sinister Game of Truth or Dare

The next day Ma told us over breakfast that she was taking the boys out that night, and Dani, Gracie and I would be at home by ourselves. She told us it would be our turn next Saturday night when we would go shopping for some new clothes for me. Dani found some old clothes for me in the wardrobe but Ma said that I should have some brand new ones, to go to school in. Mike and Fred were in their room all day talking about what they would do that night. I think they were going to see a late night movie or something with some of their friends.

After Ma and the boys had left Dani, ,Gracie and I were on our own in the house. Gracie watched the TV for a while (It was very interesting how the TV worked. I looked it up on the computer that day) so Dani and I went to our room. We weren't sure what to do. We sat and talked for a bit but we didn't know what to talk about so it was very awkward. Then Dani said, "Let's play truth or dare."

I asked, "what's truth or dare?"

Dani said, "I will ask you if you want a truth or a dare. If you say truth you have to answer a question truthfully. If you say dare I will dare you to do something. If you refuse you'll have to do something bad. Then you will ask me if I want truth or dare."

"Okay," I said. "You start."

Dani asked what I wanted. I said "truth."

She asked me if I had a crush. I said I didn't, because I had only been here for two days. I then asked Dani what she wanted. She wanted truth as well. I wasn't sure what to ask, so I said, "Do you have a secret?"

Dani didn't reply for a second. I felt awkward. Weren't you supposed to ask awkward questions in this game?

"Yeah. I'll tell you. The thing is..." started Dani. "The thing is... unlike the others, I don't know who either one of my parents were. I was sent to an orphanage, and all I heard about them was that my mother was an Olympian. You know, an Olympic athlete. That's all I know about them. The orphanage was really horrible. Me and my friend May were always making up stories about the grown ups there being monsters. There was this one guy, Mr Lopse. He was huge and really scary. Then there was Mrs Pousa. She looked like a vampire, she did. One day May and I decided to run away. We managed to escape. But on the way, we were caught by Mr Lopse and Mrs Pousa. I hid but when I dared to peek from my hiding spot... May was gone."

I was speechless. Dani had seemed so happy and nice before, it was hard to imagine that she'd been hiding this inside of her. "Gone?" I asked. "What do you mean, she was gone?"

"There was nothing there. Not a trace. But I get the feeling that Lopse and Pousa didn't take her back to the orphanage. I would have heard them say so. I heard some horrible noises. A scream. And May was gone." I thought about this. Perhaps she had been taken back, and she didn't want to go? But again, I got a feeling that she didn't go back to the orphanage. Perhaps... something more sinister had happened to May? I banished the thought from my mind. Whatever had happened to her, it wasn't my buisiness. It was about Dani and May, not me.

"So, what's your story?" Asked Dani. "We've told you all of ours, what about you?" I didn't think Dani would believe me that I'd lived some two thousand years ago in an endless Labyrinth and then fallen asleep to wake up in this age. She wouldn't believe me, would she? I decided I would tell her some of it. "Well... I grew up with just my father," I began. "He was an inventor called Daedalus. I didn't know who my mother was. I had apparently had a brother called Icarus but... something happened to him. I don't know what. Anyway.... I...I..." I wasn't sure what else to say, how to explain how I had come upon Ma's house. 

"Like in the Greek myth, about the man in the Labyrinth," said Dani. I jumped. She knew about my father and the Labyrinth? Even after two thousand years?

"H...how...how did you...know that?" I asked. "About the Labyrinth... and Father... after two thousand years?" Dani gave me a strange look.

"What do you mean? It's a Greek myth," she said.

"Well... you've saved me some trouble... you may not believe it but... that actually happened... and I grew up in the Labyrinth... but then... they came and I was put to sleep... and I woke up in this...time..." I said awkwardly.

"Alexia...I... I believe you, Alexia. You see... After May...disappeared... I ran off again but... I got lost. Then a strange guy... with horns, would you believe... he told me he knew someone who might help me... he gave me directions and I followed them...and ended up here, at Ma's house. I told someone about the strange horned guy but nobody believed me. They said I must have been seeing things. But I am sure of what I saw."

I couldn't speak. A man with horns... A satyr. She had seen a satyr. And from what I knew, that meant one of two things:

Either Dani was a mortal with the ability to see things that would be otherwise invisible to mortals, or... she was a child of one of the immortal gods.


	5. I Get Assigned a Peg

So, where was I? Oh yeah, Dani was telling me about her terrible experience when she ran away from the orphanage, and she'd probably seen a satyr when she arrived at Ma's house. 

I sat there trying to process all the strange, sad things Dani had just told me. To be honest, it didn't make me feel any better about the fact that I was living two thousand years ahead of my time. But one thing was for sure: There were still monsters about, and there were still those who needed protecting by the satyrs. I tried to recall all the things I knew about satyrs. They protected young heroes from harm. They acted as guardians for them when taking them to safety.What was it about these heroes though.... there was a particular reason that these heroes needed protecting. I couldn't remember it. 

After that Dani and I just went to sleep. The next morning Ma gathered us all together for breakfast and said that I would start at the nearby school the next week. The school was called Picklestown School. I asked Dani what we did at school. I had been taught everything I needed back in the Labyrinth. From what I'd heard (that I could remember) in my time it was rare for people to go to school, and it was only the boys that did go. Those that did learnt things like legends of the Gods, and fighting, and lots of other things like that. Here, it seemed, we would learn maths (arithmetic involving numbers and shapes, which I was always good at) English, music, PE (sports and such) Geography (about the world) History, Science and all that.

On my first day I was really excited. Dani found some of her old school uniform for me to borrow. The uniform consisted of a white t-shirt, a navy blue skirt and a navy blue jumper. I put these on and walked downstairs for breakfast, which was jam on toast. After that, Dani, Mike, Fred, Gracie and I walked to school. I walked with Dani and Gracie, and Mike and Fred walked behind us. 

It was about a fifteen to twenty minute walk to school. I have to say, it was a lovely looking building. We walked into an office at the front of the school. Dani took me up to a desk and said, "Miss Brighton, this is Alexia Inventor-Quintus. She's with us, and she's starting here today." The lady who was sitting behind the desk, Miss Brighton, turned to her computer, typed something in and said, "Ah, yes. I do believe your carer has told us about Alexia. Dani dear, take her to your classroom."

Dani took me down a hallway, and around a few corners until we reached a door with a sign on the front which read,

Mrs Petra's Class

7A

Dani opened the door and led me in. She took me up to a large desk at the front of the room, where a woman in a pink dress (who I presumed was Mrs Petra) was sitting. She turned in her office chair as Dani approached. "Why hello Dani," she said. "And who might this be?"

"Um, I'm Alexia Inventor-Quintus. I'm new here," I said.

"Oh, welcome Alexia! Yes, Miss Brighton did tell me we had a new student in the class. I guess you're it." 

Dani said, "Miss, where can Alexia put her things?"

At this point, the door opened and another girl came in. She looked like she'd been dragged through a hedge backwards, and judging by all the leaves in her hair, I guessed that wasn't too far from being exactly what had happened. 

"Ah, Freda, what good timing," said Mrs Petra, turning to the girl who had just entered the room. "Would you mind showing the new girl Alexia to a free peg?"

"Of course, Miss," said the other girl. She took me by the hand and led me into the corridor. There were many pegs on the walls of the corridor, with names above each one. "You can have the peg next to mine," said Freda. She pointed to a peg next to hers. Then she took a piece of paper out her bag and told me to write my name on it, and then she slid it into the piece of plastic above the peg. 

After that was done we went back to the classroom and got a key for the lock on the peg. The pegs were more like hooks, but anyway, I then put my satchel on my peg. No sooner had I done this when the bell rang. I asked Freda what to do next. We went into a big hall for "morning assembly." There were lots of chairs lined up in rows. I sat between Freda and a boy who had long pants and a wooly jumper on. A teacher walked up to the platform at the front of the room. She said, "Quiet everyone, please."

"Now, I have an announcement," said the teacher on the platform. "We have a new student in Mrs Petra's class. Her name is Alexia. Please make her feel welcome. That is all. Dismissed."

The first lesson that morning was History. You'll never guess what we were learning about: Greek history! But it was not at all how I remembered it; the history teacher said that the gods and heroes and monsters were mythical, fake, were never real. I knew otherwise, but Dani whispered in my ear when I raised my hand to protest, "Alexia, the teachers and students here don't seem to know the truth about all this stuff. They were never there, so how could they have known what it was like then?" This was true. I wondered what had happened to the Labyrinth, the gods and monsters, if these people had never seen them and didn't believe they had ever existed. It was then that I realized: This probably meant that my father was dead. Perhaps all the gods and monsters were too. But then I remembered what Dani had told me the night before. She had experienced these things, so they couldn't possibly be, could they?

Sorry this chapter took so long and wasn't that interesting, I promise that some action will take place in the next chapter.


	6. I Walk Down the Infinite Corridor

I sat through the rest of the history lesson trying to process all the stuff the teachers were telling us. It just couldn't be right, could it? But alas, it seemed like the fact that the Olympian gods weren't real was common knowledge to the people of this era. Dani was right in saying tha there was no point trying to convince everyone else that the mythical gods, monsters and heroes were real. I suppose some of my new classmates noticed that something was wrong with me, because I saw a few of them staring in my direction. "What a total space cadet," one boy in a white shirt with some sort of yellow creature on it said to another.   
"Give her a break, Buster, she's new," the second boy replied. He was wearing a black jumper and beanie. Why he was wearing it inside, I had no idea. It wasn't cold in the classroom.

Dani and Freda took me to their "usual spot" during the morning break. While I was eating the apple Ma had packed for my recess, the boy in the beanie approached the group. "H-Hey," he said shyly. He kept his head down.  
"Hey, Johnny," Dani replied to him.   
"Ummm, hello," I said, not wanting to seem rude.  
"Hey, you're...um, Alexis, right?" He asked me.  
"Er, Alexia, actually," I replied.   
"Oh! Alexia, got it. I'm Johnny. I, uh, came to apologise." He fidgeted a bit, playing with the sleeves of his jumper.  
"Apologise? What did you break this time?" Freda looked at him. I couldn't tell if it was a serious question or not. Johnny didn't look offended by it. He only looked more nervous and scratched his head.  
"That's not it...I wanted to apologise for my bro Buster this morning," he said.  
"Ooh, that Buster!" Freda looked like she wanted to punch Buster the instant she saw him. "He was staring at Lexi-is it okay if I call you that?-all lesson! I swear I heard him call her a space cadet, too."  
"Yeah, I wanted to apologise for all that. He, uh, doesn't exactly mean everything he says. He sorta just says whatever's on his mind. It causes a ton of trouble-" at this, Freda mumbled, 'I can imagine,'-"but he's really not that bad."  
"I see," I replied. I guessed that I must've looked a bit strange during the history lesson; I remembered staring at the ceiling for most of the class. "Thanks."  
"It's alright. He was actually gonna come himself, but he kinda...chickened out at the last minute. It happens," Johnny explained while still scratching his head.

That was how Freda, Johnny and I became friends. Strangely, Dani left the group, so it was just the three of us in the "usual spot", under a tree in the yard. I asked Dani about it on Friday morning. I figured it must've been because Johnny had started sitting there (Freda asked him why he had done this; he explained that we gave him an excuse not to sit with his brother and his friends, who could get very annoying). Dani said that he reminded her of her escape from the orphanage, for some reason. Although that was very unusual, if it was the case it was a decent reason not to sit with us, especially as she had then gone on to say that she didn't want it to stop me or Freda from being friends with him. So Freda and I welcomed him; what with the problem of his brother Buster being annoying, it sounded like he needed some other friends. And we were definitely grateful that Johnny was there the next Tuesday.

It was very sudden; an assembly was randomly announced during lunchtime. The entire school trooped to the assembly hall. Students were talking loudly the entire way there. Freda, Johnny and I had walked together, and we were stuck at the back of the crowd. But as the army of students and teachers went on down the hallway, we found ourselves moving through the mass of bodies, until we could actually see into the corridor we were walking through. In the span of about fifteen seconds, we'd gone from the back of the group to the front. Mrs Petra was one of the only people in front of us. I looked at Johnny, who also seemed to have only just realised this. He had a confused look on his face. Freda was also still somehow next to me, and she was just as puzzled as we were. 

We continued along the corridor. We only had about fifteen metres to go before we arrived at the large wooden doors that led into the assembly hall. I suddenly got the most ominous feeling in my tummy. I turned my head to look behind me, and was shocked. The rest of the students were about ten metres behind us! We hadn't been walking unusually fast or anything, yet we had somehow left the rest of the group behind. I got the feeling that I should turn back and attempt to lose myself in the group. But my legs would not obey me. I tried to turn around. But still my legs kept trudging onward through the long, dimly lit corridor. Despite the fact that the assembly hall door was only a few metres ahead, the corridor seemed endless. Like no matter how many steps I took, I would never reach the door-which by now, I thought was probably a good thing-and that there was somehow an even more infinite amount of corridor behind me. It would be pointless to turn back, because it would take even longer to escape the endless corridor by going that way. And even if I could, I would have to get through the moving wall of students.

I turned to Freda and Johnny. They both looked just as uneasy as I felt. I wanted to say something to them, like "what's happening?" or "we should go back", but just as my legs refused to let me turn around, my mouth refused to open. All I could do was walk slowly, silently onward towards the assembly hall. Mrs Petra was equally silent as she led us. The other teachers in front of us had fallen behind, leaving her as the only person in front of Freda, Johnny and me. She was equally silent as, upon reaching the large, wooden double doors, she took a shiny silver key from somewhere and turned it in the lock. The doors slowly opened with a loud creak that was painful to hear. The hall was pitch black; metal blinds prevented any light from entering the room through the windows. I felt myself being pushed inside the hall, despite the fact that nobody could've pushed me; Mrs Petra was holding the door open and the rest of the students were still very far behind-so far, in fact, that their talking was little more than a hum somewhere behind us. I hadn't even taken five steps when the door suddenly swung shut with a loud crash.


	7. My Teacher Gets Possessed

The assembly hall was pitch black, and eerily silent-except for the sound of Freda and Johnny's breathing. We all stood there for a few seconds, before Freda suddenly yelled, "What in the world?!" I heard her attempting to open the door but it would not budge. Mrs Petra must have locked it, but why would she? Why would somebody announce an assembly only for our teacher to suddenly lock the three of us in the hall? Despite the fact that I knew that the rest of the school was in the corridor, I had a bad feeling that nobody was going to rescue us. We had to find our oeh way out-and then what?

We were running towards the windows to try to escape that way, when suddenly I heard a nasty, cackling laugh from behind me. I turned around. Although the hall was dark, I knew who it was. Somehow, Mrs Petra had gotten inside the hall, despite having shut us in from the outside.   
"Well, it's been a while, hasn't it, daughter of Daedalus? About two thousand years, by my count," she screeched.   
"D-Daughter of what!?" Johnny gasped. "Two thousand years?!"  
"Finally...yes, finally, I can have my revenge!" Suddenly, Mrs Petra's face became twisted, her eyes bulging and her mouth opening wider than it should've been able. She collapsed, and a ghostly form rose from her body. It was roughly the size of a man, but it was blurry and transparent. A ghost. Who was he? What had he been doing in Mrs Petra's body? And how did he know who I was?

When the ghost spoke, his voice was deep and it echoed around the hall. "Hah. Yes, you're definitely the one. You have his eyes, and now that I'm finally out of that idiotic vessel, I can sense your connection with him." We turned to run, but we were trapped. We could try breaking the window; I knew there were chairs in the hall from the assembly that had been held the previous Monday. But it was too dark to find them; the only light in the room was coming from the ghost. As if sensing my intention, he said, "Running would be futile." Johnny ran towards the window and began kicking it.

The ghost flew at me. I jumped back, screaming, but the ghost flew straight through me. It felt odd, like a strong wind was blowing inside me, but I wasn't hurt. I clutched the key around my neck, the one I'd had with me when I'd woken up in the twenty-first century. It wasn't as if there was anything it could do in this situation, but it made me feel braver, just holding it. The key felt warm in my hand for some reason. I turned around to where the ghost was floating; despite his features being blurry, he looked somewhat annoyed.  
"Aargh, don't tell me I STILL need that demigod weakling's body if I want to get anything done!" He yelled in his deep, raspy voice. He flew towards Mrs Petra, who was still unconscious. 

Suddenly, there was a loud crash, and light came in from the direction of the window; the metal blinds were lying bent on the floor, as well as a bit of glass. Now we could escape! ...If we weren't on the second floor of the school, that is. That didn't seem to faze Johnny though. He kicked off his shoes and jumped out of the hole he'd made in the window-glass, two-storey drop and all.  
"Johnny!" Freda called after we heard the thump of him landing on the grass outside.   
I thought I heard him call, "I'm okay" back, though I didn't know how he could be after jumping out a second-floor window. 

Meanwhile, the ghost had repossessed Mrs Petra, and was stumbling around the hall-he must be getting used to having a body again despite only having left the body a few minutes ago. Some inner instinct told me to take advantage of this fact, so I ran forward with all the energy I had and leapt onto Mrs Petra. We fell onto the floor and struggled. The ghost (in Mrs Petra's body) tried to get on top of me, but I would not let him. Freda was watching helplessly. She couldn't go and see of Johnny was alright, and she couldn't really help me since I was struggling with the ghost on the floor. As I continued to struggle with the ghost, I heard her start bashing the hall door with her fists and yelling "HELP! SOMEONE GET US OUT OF HERE!"

Suddenly, the ghost grabbed the golden key (probably trying to strangle me with the necklace), but as soon as he did, he let go and screeched in pain. He tried again with the same result. Mrs Petra's hand Had started bleeding where it had touched the key. I didn't want to hurt Mrs Petra, but since it seemed to be the only way to escape the ghost, I grabbed the key and pressed it against Mrs Petra's skin. The ghost screamed, and the ghost stopped struggling for a bit. I rolled off Mrs Petra's body, and quickly got to my feet. I kept my hand on my key, which still felt warm. I took the necklace off so that I could attack the ghost with the key again if I needed to. 

Freda was still banging on the door, although she had stopped yelling. I ran over to the broken window; the only way to escape the room was to jump out. Johnny was still standing on the grass. He had his arms raised in the air, as if waiting to catch something. I called to Johnny, "Hey, go get some help!"   
He called back, "No, just jump, Alexia!" I realised why he had his arms up-he had been waiting to catch us at any moment. "I'll catch you, just trust me!"  
I looked behind me. The ghost was standing up. Mrs Petra's skin was still bleeding where my key had touched it. I swung the key necklace in the ghost's direction, and he flinched. I knew that eventually, the key might not work against him however. Without another thought, I climbed onto the windowsill, cutting my arms and legs on the broken glass still in the frame, and then half climbed, half fell out the window.


End file.
